Master gardeners are members of their local communities who take an active interest in trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers and gardens and who volunteer to help others in their community learn about them.
(Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M Agrilife photo)
Virtual event to include Leadership Workshop on May 9
PAUL SCHATTENBERG | Special Contributor
paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
The 2022 Texas Master Gardener State Conference will be held virtually via Zoom Tuesday and Wednesday, May 10-11, with a Leadership Workshop kicking things off on Monday, May 9. The conference will offer information on horticultural topics as well as addressing how to enhance community programming and is open to all master gardeners and to the public.
The Texas Master Gardener Program is a volunteer horticulture program supporting the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Master gardeners are members of their local communities who take an active interest in trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers and gardens and who volunteer to help others in their community learn about them.
Due to the virtual nature of the conference, each participant will need to register separately, not as a group or as a couple. All those attending will need a separate link to enter the conference. Participants will have the option to purchase general registration for the conference and access to the leadership workshop.
Register for the conference at tx.ag/TXMGConf22, and register for the Leadership Workshop at tx.ag/TXMGLead22. The deadline for registration is 5 p.m. on Monday, April 25.
The conference cost is $65, and the Leadership Workshop is $25.
This year’s theme is “Community Connections,” according to Nicky Maddams, AgriLife Extension Texas Master Gardener program assistant and conference coordinator, based in Bryan-College Station.
“The event will offer even more tools for Texas master gardeners to be even better volunteers within their respective communities,” Maddams said. “We have a fantastic lineup of speakers ready to share many ways to further projects and education within your association.”
The event will also offer sessions on various horticultural topics, including diagnosing plant problems, landscape design, demonstration gardens, color trends, vegetable gardening, invasive plants, backyard pollinators, native seed and viticulture.
“There will also be presentations related to program-wide topics, such as reaching underserved populations, building partnerships, enhancing social media presence, youth gardening and managing volunteer resources,” Maddams said. “We’ll also have virtual tours of diverse gardens in the U.S.”
The conference offers continuing education hours for master gardeners. There will be three keynote presentations, 24 breakout sessions and five virtual tours. Additionally, a bonus session, presented by Maddams and Jayla Fry, AgriLife Extension Texas Master Gardener program coordinator, will be offered on the Volunteer Management System.
The 2022 Texas Master Gardener Virtual Conference Agenda is available online. For more information about speakers and presentations, visit txmg.org/speakers-2
Keynote speakers and topics will be:
• Jeff Raska, AgriLife Extension horticultural program coordinator for Dallas County, speaking on The Urban County Farm.
• An AgriLife Extension agent panel with Kimberly Benton, horticulture, Cherokee County: Brittnay Meyer, horticulture, Tarrant County; Kyla Moeller, family and community health, Grimes County, and Clint Perkins, agriculture and natural resources, Smith County.
• Brie Arthur, author and horticulturist, speaking on Marketing to Generation Me.
The 2022 Conference t-shirt is available from AgriLife Learn, formerly known as the AgriLife Bookstore, Maddams said, adding, “The conference is also time to celebrate the Search for Excellence Awards and our more than 7,000 Texas Master Gardener volunteers’ incredible achievements in education across the state.”